Denny Hamlin will have plenty of work ahead of him in Sunday afternoon’s Iowa Corn 350 after a difficult Saturday at Iowa Speedway left the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing team fighting problems instead of showing its usual speed.
Hamlin qualified 29th, putting him deep in the field after brake issues caused problems for the No. 11 team throughout practice and qualifying.
The issues made it difficult for Hamlin and his team to get a true read on the car during Saturday’s sessions. At a track like Iowa, where braking and getting the car to rotate through the corners are important, those problems put the team behind heading into qualifying.
Hamlin was only able to manage the 29th-fastest qualifying effort.
However, he is expected to move up one position and take the green flag from 28th after Brad Keselowski drops to the rear. Keselowski originally qualified fourth but will give up that starting position after his team made repairs to the No. 6 Ford following damage sustained Saturday.
Moving up one spot does little to change the challenge Hamlin faces.
Starting 28th means the No. 11 will be surrounded by traffic from the opening lap, while several of the strongest cars from the weekend will begin near the front. Track position could be extremely important at the 7/8-mile Iowa Speedway, making Hamlin’s climb through the field even tougher.
The biggest question is whether Joe Gibbs Racing was able to solve the brake issues overnight and give Hamlin a car capable of moving forward.
If the problems are fixed, Hamlin still has plenty of time to make something happen. He has proven throughout his career that he can work through traffic and contend on shorter tracks, while strategy, tire management and cautions could all create opportunities for the No. 11 team.
But after a Saturday filled with brake problems and a 29th-place qualifying effort, Hamlin enters Sunday in an unfamiliar position.
Instead of beginning the Iowa Corn 350 as one of the drivers everyone is chasing, he’ll have to come from 28th and work his way through nearly the entire field if he wants to fight for the win.
Denny Hamlin experiments to find stuff for the postseason.
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